Recent advances in metal oxide/hydroxide on three-dimensional nickel foam substrate for high performance pseudocapacitive electrodes

The high demand for long-lasting and portable energy storage devices with enhanced energy and power densities has attracted researcher's interest globally. The three-dimensional (3D) nickel foam is a promising electrode material for storing energy in various devices because they possess large surface area, are very conductive and enjoy a continuous permeable 3D system. This article provides a review and detailed information on the uses of 3D nickel foam-based electrodes with metal oxides/hydroxides of different morphologies for high-performance pseudocapacitors. We assess the limitations and future prospects of 3D nickel foam-based electrodes with metal oxides/hydroxides for industrial application towards enhancing pseudocapacitors' energy storage capability.     

Properties of chemical vapour deposited nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films and their use in dye-sensitized solar cells

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films have been prepared using titanium(IV) isopropoxide as a precursor onto the glass and fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrates by chemical vapour deposition technique at 400 °C substrate temperature. X-ray diffraction study confirms the polycrystalline nature of TiO₂ with anatase phase having tetragonal crystal structure. The films are 975 nm thick and transparent having transmittance grater than 80%. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images reveal the nanocrystalline morphology with grain size of 200 nm. The film shows a sharp absorption edge near 350 nm. Photoelectrochemical study shows that TiO₂ thin film sensitized with Brown Orange dye is found to exhibit relatively maximum I_sc and V_oc among the studied dyes. The values of fill factor (FF) and efficiency (η) for the dye-sensitized solar cell (Brown Orange dye-sensitized TiO₂) are 0.54 and 0.17%, respectively. Such films would serve as better prospects for dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Investigation of structural, morphological, luminescent and thermal properties of combusted aluminium-based iron oxide

Nanocomposites of aluminium integrated hematite α-Fe₂O₃ are synthesized by combustion route using aqueous solutions of AR grade ferric trichloride and aluminium nitrate as precursors. The influence of aluminium incorporation on to the morphology, XPS, photoluminescence and thermal properties has been investigated. The FESEM and AFM micrographs depict that the samples are compact and have homogeneously distributed grains of varying sizes (∼20-60 nm). Chemical composition and valence states of constituent elements in hematite are analyzed by XPS. In room temperature photoluminescence (PL) study, we observed strong violet emission around 436 nm without any deep-level emission and a small PL FWHM indicating that the concentrations of defects are responsible for deep-level emissions. The specific heat and thermal conductivity study shows the phonon conduction behavior is dominant. We studied interparticle interactions using complex impedance spectroscopy. We report a new potential candidate for its possible applications in optoelectronics and magnetic devices.     

Extractive separation of group IVB elements: analysis of alloy samples

A method is proposed for the extraction and mutual separation of quadrivalent titanium, zirconium and hafnium from hydrochloric acid using triphenylphosphine oxide dissolved in toluene as an extractant. The optimum conditions for the extraction and separation have been evaluated from critical study of acid concentration, extractant concentration, period of equilibration and effect of diluent. The effect of foreign ions on the extraction and determination is also discussed. The probable composition of the extracted species has been deduced from logD-logC plots. The method affords mutual separation of titanium, zirconium and hafnium and is applicable to the analysis of alloy samples.     

Electrochemical unzipping of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for facile synthesis of high-quality graphene nanoribbons

Here we report a remarkable transformation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to nanoribbons composed of a few layers of graphene by a two-step electrochemical approach. This consists of the oxidation of CNTs at controlled potential, followed by reduction to form graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) having smooth edges and fewer defects, as evidenced by multiple characterization techniques, including Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. This type of "unzipping" of CNTs (single-walled, multi-walled) in the presence of an interfacial electric field provides unique advantages with respect to the orientation of CNTs, which might make possible the production of GNRs with controlled widths and fewer defects.     

A phosphotyrosine-imprinted polymer receptor for the recognition of tyrosine phosphorylated peptides

Hyperphosphorylation at tyrosine is commonly observed in tumor proteomes and, hence, specific phosphoproteins or phosphopeptides could serve as markers useful for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The analysis of such targets is, however, a challenging task, because of their commonly low abundance and the lack of robust and effective preconcentration techniques. As a robust alternative to the commonly used immunoaffinity techniques that rely on phosphotyrosine(pTyr)-specific antibodies, we have developed an epitope-imprinting strategy that leads to a synthetic pTyr-selective imprinted polymer receptor. The binding site incorporates two monourea ligands placed by preorganization around a pTyr dianion template. The tight binding site displayed good binding affinities for the pTyr template, in the range of that observed for corresponding antibodies, and a clear preference for pTyr over phosphoserine (pSer). In further analogy to the antibodies, the imprinted polymer was capable of capturing short tyrosine phosphorylated peptides in the presence of an excess of their non-phosphorylated counterparts or peptides phosphorylated at serine.     

Efficient Synthesis of Tetrahydropyrimidines and Pyrrolidines by a Multicomponent Reaction of Dialkyl Acetylenedicarboxylates (=Dialkyl But‐2‐ynedioates), Amines,and Formaldehyde in the Presence of Iodine as a Catalyst

Iodine was explored as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of tetrahydropyrimidines 4 and pyrrolidines 5 by a multicomponent reaction of dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates (=dialkyl but‐2‐ynedioates) 1 , amines 2 , and HCHO 3 at room temperature (Scheme). When the molar ratios of these substrates were 1 : 2 : 4 and 1 : 1 : 4, tetrahydropyrimidines and pyrrolidines were formed, respectively. The products were obtained in high yields (73–85%) within a short period of time (25–35 min).     

Synthesis and Biological Activity of 4-Hydroxy-3-(1,5-diaryl-3-oxo-pent-4-enyl)chromen-2-ones

The substituted warfarin acid chalcones have been prepared by condensation of warfarin acid and aromatic/aliphatic aldehyde using aq. NaOH as catalyst. The method is simple, cost‐effective and gives good yield in a short reaction time. All the compounds synthesized have been characterized by IR, NMR and Mass spectra. A new series of 4‐hydroxy‐3‐(3‐oxo‐1,5‐diaryl‐3‐oxo‐pent‐4‐enyl)‐chromen‐2‐ones were synthesized and submitted to biological activity. Result of the biological screening showed the compounds 3b , 3h being the most effective among the various treatments in antimicrobial screening. Compounds 3c , 3d , 3k and 3l showed moderate activity against the microorganisms tested. Compounds 3e , 3h have shown good antifungal activity.